Chatsworth Flower Show

Chatsworth is our most magnificent stately home. Against the rolling landscape and wild moorlands of Derbyshire, the house is a marvel of the English Baroque. It has been in the Cavendish family for nearly half a millennium, and until recently was presided over by Deborah, the last of the Mitford Sisters. Capability Brown, England's most famous gardener, designed the parkland in the eighteenth century. Rubens, Van Dyck, Sargent and, more recently, Michael Craig-Martin jostle for attention on the walls. Jane Austen based Pride and Prejudice's Pemberley Hall on the estate. It's also deliciously haunted.

The Royal Horticultural Society (the lot behind Chelsea Flower show) have given you a brand new reason to visit. Next June, a brand new flower show arrives at Chatworth's 1,000-acre parkland. Held on the banks of the river Derwent, the show will bring together a selection of the finest nurseries and garden designers in the country. There'll be talks, displays and flowers for sale. Think Chelsea Flower Show, but even more spectacular. And no black cabs.

The theme of the show is 'Design Revolutionaries' and will include Garden for a Changing Climate, which aims to display current and 'future' scenarios of the ordinary residential garden through a selection of plants. A FreeForm category comprising of eight entries, that will remain unjudged, will also be included to promote freedom of expression and acknowledge the relationship between greenery and art. Highlights from this category includes Pic ‘n’ Mix, a surreal garden portrait of Chatsworth, and The Brewin Dolphin Garden by notable designer Jo Thompson, which features a contemporary steel sculpture.

An exhibition that will tell the story of Joseph Paxton, who was a prominent innovator in garden design, will be taking place and the Floral Marquee will take inspiration from Paxton’s great conservatory at Chatsworth. Moreover, eight garden shows will feature well-known designers, such as Jackie Knight, Sheena Seeks, and Paul Hervey-Brookes, to name but a few.